on Friday night:

I am figuring out what it means to live in the suburbs of DC. And what it means to leave for New Jersey during rush hour in DC.

I left at 6:30pm and was on the phone with Jess. We talked for about 20 minutes, and during the conversation she decided she was going to drive from Grand Rapids to Lansing that night. The trip from GR to her particular destination is a little over 90 miles away. We decided we'd hang up, but she was going to stop and grab dinner and call me back when she got on the road so we could travel together.

An hour and a half later she called me back. During that hour and a half, I went 15 miles and was rear-ended on the Beltway.
Awesome.

She proceeded to tell me that during that hour and a half, she got some dinner, "relaxed", and had already arrived in Lansing.
Again, awesome.

Yes, you read right, I got rear-ended. In 6 lanes of solid traffic on a Friday evening in the dark while it was pouring rain. By a guy driving a pick up truck. Because we were in the middle of the highway it took what felt like 20 minutes but was probably more like 10 minutes to get over to the shoulder of the road where we could finally pull over. Once we did I got out of the car into the pouring rain and ran back to check out the back of my car. He simply rolled his window down and waited for the verdict (thanks for the courtesy of getting out of your car and thanks for the apology). The back of my car looked fine, so I waved him on and said "don't worry about it". When we merged back onto the highway, he passed by me quickly.

Yes, that's right Mr. Pick Up Truck. I forgive you, so you and the shiny christian fish on your tailgate can be on your way.